Sorn Seavmey is a Cambodian Taekwondo practitioner who won gold for her country at the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea, and Cambodian Productions had the honour of working with her on a commercial production in June 2017. We were contacted by a Singaporean based production company, IKON Media, and asked to render our services for a shoot in Phnom Penh. The commercial was being made to promote a new app called “MyParent” and would feature Seavmey as the star. The first order of business, as is common with so many international productions, was to hire the local crew (camera operator, lighting team, local fixer, stylist etc) and then source the necessary technical equipment needed to get the job done. We also took care of the official filming permission (MOI) which is mandatory when conducting a shoot in Cambodia. After these formalities were taken care of it was onto the next (and sometimes most fun) step in the process, the recce. The commercial would depict Seavmey training in a variety of different landscapes and our client had a very specific idea on the type of scenery for the production. The main location for the shoot called for a large, flat area of grass where no one could be seen in the background, similar to a “golf course” as our client put it. During the recce we visited many locations but everywhere we went, although beautiful and unique, was not suitable for the client’s vision. Then a moment of inspiration hit us, if we are looking for a large flat area similar to a golf course then why don’t we...

Usually when a film fixer is working on an international shoot we will facilitate all aspects of the production (permits, permissions, transportation, crew and equipment hire) but sometimes we are just asked to take care of the technical side. So was the case when we were asked by EBU and Blue Bear Productions too offer technical support for a show which was to be broadcast live from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The ASEAN World Economics Forum is a yearly event which takes place in a different country each calendar year, and in 2017 it would be the turn of Cambodia too host the event. The event would feature the popular BBC Global Question Show at the climax of the event and it would require technical support for the lighting set up. Being that the show was shot live it would require a talented local team who were experienced and competent enough to handle the complicated lighting set up and ensure that everything went according to plan during the live broadcast. We were first contacted by the clients a week before the event took place. After receiving the lighting and crew requirements we sourced everything on the client’s behalf and were ready to proceed within a few days. The event would take place at the Sokha Hotel and a technical recce was carried out by our team a few days before the event. Unfortunately, the power supply for the lights was insufficient at the hotel so we opted to use a generator instead for the live broadcast. This is exactly why we opt to always do a recce before...

In 2002 Hollywood star, Matt Dillon, made his directorial debut with the feature film City of Ghosts. The film, which also stars James Caan and Gérard Depardieu, is a crime noir thriller set against the backdrop of Cambodia. City of Ghosts was one of the first feature films to be shot in Cambodia since the end of the Khmer Rouge and filming in this foreign land was much different from how it is today. After the film was completed Matt Dillon reflected on his memories of filming in Cambodia in a series of interviews (sources from online magazines Filmmaker Magazine and Black Film). QUESTION: What made you set your first feature as a director in Cambodia? DILLON: Well, there’s an old thing that Hemingway said: “Write about what you know,” right? And [then there’s the opposite]: “How dare you write about something you don’t know anything about?” I feel that you can write about what you know, but you can also use [writing] as an opportunity to discover something new that you didn’t know. You just trust your heart and your gut and go with it, and that’s what I was doing. What do I know about Cambodia? Well, it’s a place that has fascinated me for a long time and it just seemed right for a film setting. QUESTION: When did you first travel there? DILLON: When I first went, in 1993 I think, the U.N. was there. I wasn’t planning on going – I was just traveling on an extended vacation to Thailand and Vietnam with some friends. I’d been burned-out doing three movies back-to-back and needed...

The following story is from 2013 when Cambodian Productions main fixer, Richard John Currie, was working with a different production company on the project below. One of the more interesting aspects of being a fixer in Cambodia is we receive many enquiries about filming in this part of the world. Producers will have a concept for a shoot but they are unsure about the rules and regulations for filming in Cambodia, as a fixer it’s our job to provide the answers and then help bring the shoot to the Kingdom of Wonder. We answer every enquiry that comes in and give as much information as possible so the producers can evaluate if it’s feasible to come or not. Some of the enquiries are straight forward while others are so whacky and unique that we have to sit down as a team and discuss how we can make this happen. So when we were contacted by We Film about a promotional video for Heineken Beer featuring a man floating down a river in a giant yellow duck we had a team meeting……………….several team meetings. Heineken Beer were starting a new marketing campaign called “Dropped” which would have several episodes, each one featuring a different remote location filmed in different parts of the world. In each episode a new contestant would be blindfolded and dropped in a remote location, they would then have to travel back to civilisation using a pre-determined mode of transportation. We Film were looking for remote locations in SE Asia when they contacted us and we were able to suggest Ratanakiri as an ideal place to film the new...

When you are a production company based in a beautiful and unique country, such Cambodia, you receive all manners of emails from potential clients. Emails about using Cambodia as a backdrop for music videos, feature films, documentaries and commercials productions are a daily occurrence. As soon as producers see the stunning locations that are available in the Kingdom of Wonder they are hooked and enquiries are made. One of the main sources of enquiries is from travel programmes that are looking to explore Cambodia and feature it in their television show. This was the case when we were contacted by Overland last month. Overland is a popular travel program that has been trekking the globe for almost 20 years bringing images from around the world to an audience of millions. The Overland production company were in the middle of shooting the seventeenth series, which would see them travel across SE Asia in the search of spectacular locations. During the pre-production Cambodia was not considered as an option to film because Overland were on a set budget and all of the countries had been organised in-advance before they arrived in SE Asia. Unfortunately one of the locations, which would take up a week of filming at the end of April, had fallen through and the producers scrambled to find an alternative. It was April 5th and Overland were in Thailand, the neighbouring country was Cambodia, the producers weren’t sure of the permit process or if they could get a filming permission processed in-time so they contacted us. Upon hearing the situation from the Overland producers we advised on the...

Experience the majestic beauty that Cambodia has to offer film makers in this amazing video. Lush green landscapes, spectacular waterfalls, beautiful white beaches and some of the most stunning temples in the world. The Kingdom of Wonder is a unique country and can provide you with hundreds of breath-taking locations for your production. Get in touch with Cambodian Productions now and find out how we can utilise our team of experienced fixers to help make your shoot in a Cambodia a smooth and trouble free experience. Contact us by email info@cambodianproductions.com or if you have a more urgent enquiry you can phone us directly on +855 (0)78 572...